September Morn'
by Meadowlark's Songs
Summary: The house was the subject of many in the neighborhood for ages. It wasn't until September that things began to happen. The recesses of time opened, and miracles became realities. Come and see a story that will surely awaken something deep within your soul
1. The House

The house was large and spacious. A dream house. A mansion. There could have been many names for it. Legends concealed themselves in its dark corners. The library was said to be enchanted, but that of course was just here-say, like the many tales of sleeping beauties being locked up in its turrets. Then of course there was plenty of talk of the woman that lived within its massive walls. Some said she was a murderess who killed her whole family and was destined to live imprisoned in her own home. While others said she was a fairy that would either curse you or bless you with your most wanted desires within your heart. There were still talk that she was an Arabian princess, as ridiculous as some such gossip may have been parts here and there were true.

But it wasn't until that September morning when things within the house became even more interesting.

It had been quiet and dark for so long when all of the sudden on the first of September it came to life. The lights went on in the house, a gardener was outside trimming the hedge. A butler answered the door for unwanted visitors and even the oh so mysterious occupant came out to feel the few sunny days that were left. She was old and wrinkled but her eyes were radiant and filled with untold tales and secrets. Kids, without their parents permission, seemed to be drawn to the house. And one day a car pulled up in front of it and out stepped two young women.


	2. First Impression

As Callie stepped from the limo and peered up at the giant mass in front of her. To some it might have been intimidating but to her it was enchanting. It was out of place on this quiet countryside where a few Victorian houses were scattered here and there. It was like a gem among many rocks. The rock tries its best to look just as beautiful but fails. She wondered who built its enchanted walls and towers. Why was there a castle here of all places? Indiana. It just didn't make sense. An image from Edward Scissorhands came into Callie's mind and she smiled remembering it.

The landscape around it was quite amazing and picturesque. Woods surrounded the fortress with rolling hills like green waves upon an open sea. For a moment it felt like Callie had been transported back in time. She almost expected the black knight to come charging out of the woods and then swing her upon his horse off into the unknown. A shiver of excitement went down her spine.

A long dirt driveway led under an archway that led into the center courtyard, the lane had tall spruces lining it.

A voice behind her interrupted her fantastical thoughts.

"A little help here."

Cassie turned around to help her friend out of the car. A frizzy black head came out and a hand. Cassie pulled the hand and up came her friend. The girl was just an inch or so shorter than her friend with short wavy black hair.

"Whoa."

"Gwen, when you told me your great aunt was rich, I imagined a mansion maybe, especially after being in that limo. But never in my whole life did I think she lived in a castle. Are you sure your dad didn't say anything about her at all?" Her friend just shook her head in awe.

"I'm pretty sure I would have remembered if he had."

Just then the tall front doors opened, revealing a tall butler who nodded to the girls and then stepped aside.

"Please come in, Madame Clio is waiting."

Cassie looked at Gwen before mounting the steps and walking into the grand foyer where she was met by a quite familiar sight.


	3. Of First Meetings & Secrets

**A/N: This chapter is for Phantom's Destiny, who asked me for a long chapter. I hope this chapter lives up to your expectations. **

Before them was the largest and tallest room they were ever privileged to enter and what was most impressive about it was its grand staircase. The staircase rose up high above them ending in gold statues at bottom and top, but what was the most intriguing thing about it was that it was an exact replica of the grand staircase in the entryway of the Garnier Opera House in Paris, France. A grand chandelier was hung above their heads, thousands of its crystals and quite possible diamonds hanging down in beautiful cascades.

"Does this look familiar to you, or is it just me?"

"Callie, I'm beginning to wonder more and more who exactly my great aunt is."

"Ladies, Madame Clio is waiting in the tapestry room for you. This way, please."

The young woman dutifully followed the butler's tuxedo tails. This made them giggle slightly about how cliché it was. The walked through golden arches with angels peering down at them and dark hallways with gargoyles standing guard.

Gwen elbowed Callie.

"This place creeps me out."

"Not to me, it reminds me of the Beast's castle in Beauty & the Beast. Like an enchanted castle, it has that certain feeling about it and its running shivers up and down my spine. I have the oddest feeling, Gwen that finally we'll be able to have our adventure we've always hoped for in this house."

"More like a castle, than anything." She leaned towards Callie. "Oh, I've got that shivery feeling too, like we don't know what will be around the next corner."

"Isn't that a good feeling?"

Gwen shrugged and sighed in exasperation.

"I wonder who built this house. Whoever it was it would have been probably amazing to meet him. He must have had the privilege of helping build the Garnier Opera House because a lot of these designs and hallways are almost exactly like the ones at the Opera House. Except there's a more…oh, I don't know."

She turned around and gazed up at the ceiling which was painted with different legend, fairytale, and story tale murals. She walked backwards viewing it.

"Well it's like a magical and dark mysteriousness to it." She looked down at Gwen. "Oh I can't wait until we meet your great aunt; I want to ask her so many questions."

"Miss, if you would follow me through this door that wish can be granted."

Callie hurried towards the door.

"Come on, Gwen, what are you waiting for?"

"I don't know." She shrugged.

In all fairness it must be told that she was nervous, scared at what lay ahead. She knew she just knew that once Cassie and she crossed that threshold their lives would be changed forever.

Callie dragged her forward as the butler looked at the two curiously as he opened the door.

The tapestry room consisted off four long walls; the room itself was as big and tall as Callie's house. Upon the walls were burgundy tapestries of the late 18th century. Only the wall to the left was completely without tapestries, but that was because it solely was made out of impressive windows. Burgundy cushioned window seats lined this alcove. Both girls gasped at awe at this impressive room, the ceiling were made with golden framework. It was absolutely beautiful.

And seated in the middle of the room in chair facing a small settee and tea table was the lady of the house. She was quite intriguing just in her dress, being that of the late 19th century. But it was her expression on her face that was the most mystifying of all. Her face may have been wrinkled with age and her white, but it seemed to fit her oddly enough. Her rosy mouth was tilted at a slight angle, to some she may have been smiling while others would have thought she was smirking it would all depend on their point of view. Her neck was straight and long and her posture proper but it was the gleam in her eyes as she scanned the faces of the girls' faces that drew a person to her. Her eyes even from a distance could be seen shining and something was hidden beneath their pooly depths, a secret burrowed deep down. A secret that she had long awaited to uncover and these two girls before might just be the ones. But it wasn't until Callie stepped forward that she knew for sure.

"Hello Madame Clio, my name is Callie and this is your great niece Gwen."

The woman remained peering at the young woman unwaveringly for so much time that Callie began to feel unnerved but then she refused to show it.

"She's not my niece." It wasn't until Gwen uttered a surprised gasp that the older woman shifted her gaze over. "That's right my dear I'm not even related to you. I picked your father one day as a possible heir to this house and when I heard he had a daughter I thought it would be a pleasure to meet her." The way she said that made Callie utterly curious.

"Madame when you said that did you mean you were disappointed?"

"Do not call me Madame it makes me feel ancient, instead I wish you, both of you, to call me Clio. Only Gerard calls me Madame Clio, even after I insisted to call me just Clio. But with the both of you I will call you by your first names, as I hope you will do for me." The girls nodded. "Now, my dear Cassie, I have a question for you?" She nodded. "What's Cassie short for?"

Callie looked down embarrassed no one had ever called or even remembered the name on her birth certificate, even her parents who had chosen it. She'd been Callie for as long as she could remember.

"Calliope, Madame…I mean Clio." She was not used to calling adults by their first names that was something her parents had always forbidden her to do.

"Yes that's better. Do you know the history of that name?"

"No."

"Your name means the muse of music in ancient Greek. You see, I believe we might just be kindred spirits because my name means the muse of history and epic poetry. So we are both muses of the arts." The woman turned to Gwen, thinking that perhaps she was leaving her out, but she kept her thinking hidden beneath her eyes. "Gwen is also a good strong traditional name I hope you live up to it."

Callie's eyes had began wondering around the room again when she came to a patch of the wall that seemed different to the others. She turned back to the Madame.

"Clio," She would never get used to calling the older woman by her first name. "Is this a secret door?" The woman walked over and examined it, already knowing what it was.

"I believe it is do you care to open it?"

Callie nodded enthusiastically.

"There has to be a button or switch somewhere here?" Clio smiled behind her and her eyes lit up even brighter and as Callie's came to rest on the trigger and the trapdoor slid open she knew for sure that this girl was "the one."

"Young ladies first, go ahead Calliope and Gwen."

Callie bowed her head to get through the opening, it was very dark.

"Clio do you by any chance have a flashlight nearby?" Gwen poked her head back out.

"No, but I do have a candle, so do be careful."

"You are not coming?"

"Yes and no, I'm going to meet you on the other side."

"Oh." Gwen nervously gripped the candle and then stepped back into the tunnel. "Well I wanted an adventure, here we go I guess." The candle gave both of their faces an odd sort of glow.

"Clio's not coming?" The secret door was closed with a click. "I guess not." She proceeded down the tunnel.

"Don't you think she's a bit weird?"

"No, not really. Why do you ask, Gwen?"

"Well, she was looking at us so expectantly like she thought we might sprout wings or something and fly away."

"Ok, I will admit she's a tad bit eccentric but I like her. There is something about her that draws me to her."

"Yeah, like a moth to one of those electric lamp." Callie playfully pushed her.

"Oh, come on she's not that bad. You are just letting this house get to you in the wrong way. It all has to do with your viewpoint of things." Then they came to the dead end. "There must be a trigger here somewhere." Her hands started moving over the panel.

"Or she could have just trapped us here to starve." At this Callie laughed.

"What a wild imagination you have? Where's my adventurous friend gone?"

All of the sudden, a strong draft hit them and the candle sputtered out.

"Great! Now my dear friend are you going to continue to be such an optimist?"

"I know what it is you've got jetlag, but don't worry because I've found the trigger." And with that the door slid open and they fell out of the passageway. "Well that was fun." They raised their hands to laughing that sounded like the merry ringing of bells, which ended up coming from Clio.

"Good work, my young lady friends and now I shall show you the secret kept by this house and the mystery that you must solve." She led them to the far side of the room. The room which hasn't been mentioned yet was long and wide. At the far end there was a grand piano sitting elegantly there shining at its sleekest black best. Then there to its right was the mystery. It was a large wooden engraving on the wall looking totally out of the place with most of its stone walls. It was of a violin and musical notes and roses surrounding it. Actually there seemed to be sheets of music wrapped around it.

"It's another trapdoor or secret cabinet or something."

"That's correct, but you can never find the switch I've looked. There must be another way to open it but I've never figured it out. I thought perhaps you might be intrigued by it. Its one of the many mysteries of this house but it is the most important. The builder of this house was also a composer, and the music sheets in the background just might have been one of his many composions." She paused looking at it, as if remembering some past event. "Well, I do believe you two must be very tired from your trip, I suppose you'll want to rest before dinner. Gerard will show you to your rooms. Till then goodbye."

And with that they were dismissed, baffled by the mysteries or perhaps as Cassie thought the one big mystery of this house and its owner.


End file.
